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Digest of Education Statistics
1997 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest

Table 29.Public's level of confidence in various institutions: 1994 and 1996

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________    
                                     |                 1994                |                 1996
                                     |_____________________________________|_____________________________________
                                     |       Percent of respondents by     |       Percent of respondents by
                                     |         levels of confidence        |         levels of confidence
                                     |_____________________________________|_____________________________________
             Institution             |A great| Quite |      | Very  |Can't |A great| Quite |      | Very  |Can't
                                     | deal  | a lot | Some |little | say  | deal  | a lot | Some |little | say
_____________________________________|_______|_______|______|_______|______|_______|_______|______|_______|______
                  1                  |   2   |   3   |  4   |   5   |  6   |   7   |   8   |  9   |  10   |  11
_____________________________________|_______|_______|______|_______|______|_______|_______|______|_______|______
Private higher education ............|  14.4 |  33.9 | 30.9 |  12.4 |  8.4 |  18.3 |  38.7 | 28.3 |   7.5 |  7.1
Small businesses ....................|  16.2 |  36.7 | 36.8 |   7.2 |  3.2 |  15.3 |  40.8 | 32.6 |   7.6 |  3.6
Religious organizations .............|  21.3 |  28.3 | 30.9 |  16.7 |  2.8 |  23.6 |  31.1 | 31.3 |  12.3 |  1.7
The military ........................|  15.8 |  32.8 | 34.0 |  14.1 |  3.2 |  16.9 |  37.0 | 31.0 |  12.1 |  3.1
Public higher education .............|  11.4 |  33.9 | 39.2 |  10.7 |  4.8 |  15.0 |  36.4 | 34.2 |  11.6 |  2.8
                                     |       |       |      |       |      |       |       |      |       |
Private elementary or secondary      |       |       |      |       |      |       |       |      |       |
  education .........................|  13.4 |  31.9 | 34.7 |  13.9 |  6.2 |  15.1 |  35.3 | 33.4 |   9.7 |  6.5
Youth development and recreation ....|  13.8 |  33.0 | 35.6 |  12.1 |  5.5 |  14.8 |  35.2 | 32.7 |  11.6 |  5.7
Public elementary or secondary       |       |       |      |       |      |       |       |      |       |
  education .........................|  11.3 |  30.7 | 40.6 |  14.7 |  2.7 |  13.3 |  31.7 | 37.2 |  15.3 |  2.4
Health organizations ................|  11.2 |  24.4 | 43.0 |  16.6 |  4.7 |  10.8 |  28.2 | 42.0 |  15.9 |  3.1
Federated charitable appeals,        |       |       |      |       |      |       |       |      |       |
  e.g., United Way ..................|  11.3 |  26.1 | 36.1 |  21.2 |  5.3 |  12.6 |  26.3 | 34.9 |  21.6 |  4.5
                                     |       |       |      |       |      |       |       |      |       |
Human services organizations ........|  10.3 |  22.9 | 45.0 |  15.4 |  6.5 |   9.1 |  28.1 | 42.6 |  15.1 |  5.0
Arts, culture, and humanities        |       |       |      |       |      |       |       |      |       |
  organizations .....................|   8.1 |  21.2 | 40.5 |  18.7 | 11.6 |   9.3 |  26.7 | 39.8 |  14.3 |  9.9
Recreation for adults ...............|   8.6 |  21.7 | 43.4 |  15.0 | 11.3 |   7.8 |  27.5 | 41.9 |  13.4 |  9.4
Environmental organizations .........|  10.7 |  22.9 | 40.3 |  20.5 |  5.6 |   9.4 |  23.1 | 41.0 |  20.3 |  6.2
Private and community foundations ...|   8.0 |  22.5 | 43.9 |  16.7 |  8.9 |   7.6 |  24.0 | 42.3 |  13.5 | 12.6
                                     |       |       |      |       |      |       |       |      |       |
Local government ....................|   3.8 |  19.4 | 45.6 |  29.0 |  2.1 |   5.4 |  25.9 | 43.3 |  23.1 |  2.3
Public/society benefit, e.g., civil  |       |       |      |       |      |       |       |      |       |
  rights, social justice, community  |       |       |      |       |      |       |       |      |       |
  improvement organizations .........|   6.0 |  17.9 | 45.5 |  24.4 |  6.1 |   7.5 |  22.7 | 43.4 |  20.8 |  5.6
Media, e.g., newspapers, T.V.,       |       |       |      |       |      |       |       |      |       |
  radio .............................|   6.1 |  19.8 | 40.5 |  32.0 |  1.6 |   6.3 |  22.7 | 39.5 |  29.7 |  1.8
Work-related organizations ..........|   5.5 |  22.6 | 48.8 |  14.6 |  8.6 |   6.1 |  21.5 | 47.2 |  17.4 |  7.9
State government ....................|   4.4 |  16.4 | 46.0 |  31.2 |  1.9 |   4.1 |  22.2 | 44.9 |  26.4 |  2.5
                                     |       |       |      |       |      |       |       |      |       |
International/foreign, e.g.,         |       |       |      |       |      |       |       |      |       |
  culture exchange, relief           |       |       |      |       |      |       |       |      |       |
  organizations  ....................|   3.7 |  14.9 | 38.3 |  30.7 | 12.5 |   6.3 |  19.1 | 37.5 |  24.2 | 12.8
Organized labor .....................|   6.7 |  15.9 | 43.9 |  29.1 |  4.4 |   6.6 |  17.7 | 40.9 |  29.3 |  5.6
Major corporations ..................|   5.1 |  17.2 | 50.6 |  22.7 |  4.4 |   4.9 |  18.7 | 44.2 |  27.4 |  4.8
Federal government ..................|   3.5 |  15.5 | 44.2 |  34.8 |  1.9 |   5.2 |  17.5 | 43.9 |  31.1 |  2.2
Organizations that advocate a        |       |       |      |       |      |       |       |      |       |
  particular cause ..................|   3.9 |  12.5 | 39.5 |  37.6 |  6.6 |   4.0 |  15.7 | 42.7 |  29.5 |  8.1
                                     |       |       |      |       |      |       |       |      |       |
Congress ............................|   3.2 |  12.0 | 40.9 |  41.3 |  2.6 |   3.4 |  12.4 | 41.7 |  39.0 |  3.5
Political organizations, e.g.,       |       |       |      |       |      |       |       |      |       |
   Republican or Democratic parties .|   3.9 |  12.7 | 40.3 |  39.7 |  3.4 |   3.8 |  10.8 | 39.2 |  42.6 |  3.7
_____________________________________|_______|_______|______|_______|______|_______|_______|______|_______|______

NOTE.--Institutions are listed in rank order as determined by the combined responses of "a great deal" and "quite a lot" of confidence.

SOURCE: Independent Sector, The Gallup Organization, Giving and Volunteering in the United States, 1994 and 1996. (This table was prepared April 1997.)



1997 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest